In the offseason, the Competition Committee considered a proposal that would have made the intentional grounding rules for quarterbacks in the pocket the same as the rules for quarterbacks out of the pocket. That change was never made.
But it sort of was.
The new 2024 rulebook, in two separate locations, redefines being out of the pocket.
From Rule 3, Section 25: “A player who is in possession of the ball is out of the pocket area, and the pocket area no longer exists, if any part of his body or the ball is outside of the pocket area.”
From Rule 8, Section 2, Item 1: “A passer is out of the pocket area if any part of his body or the ball is outside the pocket area.”
The latter sentence appears specifically in the rule regarding intentional grounding. It expands the exception to grounding to any situation in which the quarterback gets any portion of his body or the ball outside of the pocket. If the throw at least gets to the line of scrimmage, no grounding.
It gives quarterbacks the ability, when under duress, to take a quick step or two to the left or right and throw the ball out of bounds. As long as it gets past the line of scrimmage, there’s no grounding.
The change that authorized this adjustment to the rule book was never officially announced by the league. It’s an example of things that come to light only by looking through the changes to the new rulebook.
